Liquid dispenser

ABSTRACT

Liquid dispenser for discharging pharmaceutical liquid having a discharge head and a cap, the cap body of which has a ventilation opening. The dispenser includes an injection-moulded pull-off portion which, in the delivery state, covers the ventilation opening and is connected to the cap body by a substance-to-substance bond. The pull-off portion, together with a tamper-evident portion, which, with the dispenser in the delivery state, prevents removal of the cap body, is part of a common segment which is detachable from the cap body of the cap. Alternatively, the ventilation opening is provided with a filter membrane for filtering the air which flows through it, and the cap body includes two part-bodies which together form a receiving space for the filter membrane.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 15/592,909,filed May 11, 2017, which claims priority from German Application No. 102016 210 992.8, filed Jun. 20, 2016, the entire contents of both ofwhich are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety.

SCOPE AND PRIOR ART

The invention relates to a liquid dispenser for discharging, inparticular, pharmaceutical liquids according to the preambles of claims1 and 7. Such a liquid dispenser has a discharge head with a dischargeopening and a cap with a cap body which, in the fitted state, protectsthe discharge opening.

The cap bodies of liquid dispensers according to the invention have aventilation opening so that, after they have been operated for the firsttime, an air exchange between the interior of the cap body and asurrounding atmosphere is possible.

DE 10 2013 226 250 A1 already discloses closing a ventilation opening inthe cap body with an adhesive strip or an injection-moulded pull-offtab, which are removed during the course of the initial operation.

OBJECT AND ACHIEVEMENT

The object of the invention is to create a possibility which isfavourable from a production point of view to ensure that nocontamination passes to the discharge opening through the ventilationopening prior to the initial operation.

According to a first variant of the invention, a liquid dispenseraccording to the invention is realized as explained below. The liquiddispenser has a discharge head on which a discharge opening is provided,as well as a cap with a cap body which is fittable on the discharge headand is removable from the same and which, in the fitted state, coversthe discharge opening. Said cap body has the named ventilation openingwhich connects a surrounding atmosphere to an interior of the cap bodysuch that, once the liquid dispenser has been used for the first timeand the cap body is fitted, the discharge opening, which is covered bythe cap body, is able to dry off as a result of the connection to thesurrounding atmosphere.

In addition, the cap has an injection-moulded pull-off portion which, inthe delivery state, covers the ventilation opening and is connected tothe cap body by way of a substance-to-substance bond, as well as atamper-evident portion, which, with the dispenser in the delivery state,prevents the cap body from being detached until the tamper-evidentportion has been removed from the cap body. According to the invention,the cap has a segment which is detachable as one unit from the cap bodyand includes said tamper-evident portion and the pull-off portion.

The cap, which is provided in the case of said first variant,accordingly has the named cap body, which is fittable on the dischargehead so as to be re-usable in the intended manner and is held thereon inthe fitted state in a positive locking or non-positive locking manner,as well as the segment which is detachable from said cap body andincludes at least the tamper-evident portion and the pull-off portion.The tamper-evident portion, which is preferably designed in the form ofa circumferential tamper-evident band which is injection moulded on thecap body in the delivery state, indicates that the dispenser has not yetbeen used as the cap cannot be detached until the tamper-evident portionhas been detached.

The ventilation opening is a breakthrough in the cap body which, in thecase said first variant of the invention, is preferably arranged in thelateral surface of the cap body. The pull-off portion closes saidventilation opening in the delivery state and is preferably integrallyconnected to an edge of the ventilation opening in a circumferentialmanner, the material, preferably a soft plastics material, beingparticularly thin in the connecting region between the cap body and thepull-off portion in order to facilitate the separation.

Designing the pull-off portion, which covers the ventilation opening inthe delivery state, and the tamper-evident portion in a joint mannerensures that when the liquid dispenser is used for the first time in theintended manner, the pull-off portion is separated from the cap bodyand, in this connection, releases the ventilation opening. The risk of auser separating the detachable segment from the cap body only in theregion of the tamper-evident portion, but leaving it untouched in theregion of the ventilation opening is slight.

The detachable segment can have a free connecting portion, which is notintegrally moulded on the cap body, between the pull-off portion and thetamper-evident portion.

The free connecting portion, which connects the pull-off portion and thetamper-evident portion together, allows the ventilation opening to bearranged at a comparatively large spacing from the tamper-evidentportion. In addition, the proper manner in which the dispenser is usedfor the first time is very easily grasped as a result. The freeconnecting portion makes it immediately obvious that the pull-offportion and the tamper-evident portion are linked such that the user,even when using a dispenser according to the invention for the firsttime in the intended manner, notices how the initial operation is to beeffected as a result of detaching the tamper-evident portion and thepull-off portion.

The detachable segment can have a grip portion which is attached in sucha manner on the detachable segment that an application of force on thegrip portion away from the cap body causes the pull-off portion toseparate from the cap body first of all and only then the tamper-evidentportion to separate from the cap body.

The grip portion is a portion of the segment which is detachable fromthe cap body, which portion is suitable to be gripped, in particular, bythe thumb and forefinger. In particular, the grip portion can berecognizable as the grip portion by its shape and by a surface ofpreferably at least 8 mm×8 mm. In addition, fluting or the like can alsobe provided in order to illustrate the method of operation. Thedetachable segment is gripped in the intended manner by the user at saidgrip portion and then is used to separate the detachable segment as aresult of applying force to the cap body. By the grip portion beingarranged closer to the pull-off portion than to the tamper-evidentportion, the ventilation opening is opened first of all and only then isthe tamper-evident portion detached. As a result, a user is effectivelyprevented from wrongly separating only the tamper-evident portion, thenleaving, however, the segment, which is fully detachable from the capbody, on the cap body in the region of the pull-off portion andconsequently not opening the ventilation opening.

The grip portion can be realized as a flatly extended portion. The gripportion is then preferably connected to the pull-off portion by means ofa spacer portion which is at least 1 mm long and is aligned orthogonallywith respect to the gripper portion.

In the case of said design, it is provided that the flat grip portionforms a shell which is on the outside with respect to the pull-offportion and is connected to said pull-off portion by means of the namedspacer portion which is preferably rigid in such a manner that a tiltingmovement of the grip portion causes an almost identical tilting movementof the pull-off portion. As a result, opening the ventilation opening issimple. As a result of a tilting movement at the grip portion, theconnecting region between the cap body and the pull-off portion beginsto tear in the desired manner such that complete separation of thepull-off portion is then easily possible.

The pull-off portion is preferably connected by way of asubstance-to-substance bond to an inside edge of the ventilation openingin a circumferential manner along a separation line. The separation linecomprises a shape which runs to a point on one side.

A pointed shape is to be understood as the separation line between thepull-off portion and the surrounding wall of the cap body forming anacute angle at the point where the separation between the pull-offportion and the cap body is to be effected in the correct manner. At thepoint, the separation line comprises a very small radius of curvaturesuch that the tearing starts as it were at one point. This facilitatesthe separation.

According to a second variant of the invention, a liquid dispenseraccording to the invention is realized as explained below. The liquiddispenser also has a discharge head on which a discharge opening isprovided, as well as a cap with a cap body which is fittable on thedischarge head and is removable from the same and which, in the fittedstate, covers the discharge opening. Said cap body has the namedventilation opening which connects a surrounding atmosphere to aninterior of the cap body such that, once the liquid dispenser has beenused for the first time and the cap body is fitted, the dischargeopening, which is covered by the cap, is able to dry off as a result ofthe connection to the surrounding atmosphere.

The ventilation opening is provided with a filter membrane for filteringthe air which flows through it. The cap body comprises two part-bodieswhich together form a receiving space for the filter membrane.

In the case of said second variant of the invention, its unique featureis that the cap body is assembled from two part-bodies, between whichthe named filter membrane is arranged. In principle, it can additionallybe provided that the ventilation opening, in which the filter membraneis provided, is additionally closed prior to the first operation, forexample by means of a pull-off portion of the type described above.Where a filter membrane is present, it is also possible, however, todispense with such a closure as the ingress of contaminants iseffectively prevented by means of the filter membrane. Said filtermembrane preferably comprises an average pore diameter of between 0.1 μmand 0.3 μm for this purpose. From a manufacturing point of view, the twopart-bodies create an advantageous option for providing a comparativelylarge-surface membrane on the cap body in an automated productionprocess.

It is particularly advantageous when the first part-body forms a capmain body with a lateral surface and an end face with a firstbreakthrough. The second part-body can then be realized as a ring bodywhich is fastenable on the first part-body in a circumferential mannerand comprises a second breakthrough which is in alignment with the firstbreakthrough.

In this connection, a first option of the design provides that the twopart-bodies are manufactured separately and are connected together bymeans of a non-positive locking or in particular positive lockingcoupling, the membrane being placed between them and preferably clampedin that position.

An alternative design provides that the part-bodies are connectedtogether by way of a substance-to-substance bond. In this connection,one variant, in particular, is deemed to be advantageous where, withinthe framework of the manufacturing process, the first part-body, whichforms the cap main body, is produced first of all by means of injectionmoulding, the membrane is then placed into the mould and then the secondpart-body is injection moulded onto the first part-body. During saidinjection moulding process, part of the membrane surface has to be keptfree of plastics material. Where the membrane is covered by plasticsmaterial as intended during the injection moulding process, an insidejoin between the second part-body and the membrane is formed, as aresult of which a path which surrounds the membrane, through whichbacteria or other contaminants could ingress, is effectively preventedfrom remaining open.

The first breakthrough can have an inside structure which divides thebreakthrough into several part breakthroughs and on which the filtermembrane rests.

The inside structure can be, for example, grid-shaped or spoke-like. Inparticular, in the case of the design described where the membrane isinserted once the first part-body has been injected, it is advantageouswhen the named inside structure is present so that the filter membraneretains its position during the injection moulding and, in particular,so that it is possible to prevent the filter membrane being completelycovered by a mould-side displacement body which, for this purpose, ispressed against the membrane which, in turn, is supported on said insidestructure. In addition, said inside structure is also advantageousduring the use of the product as it prevents the filter membrane frombeing pressed inadvertently into the cap as a result of the applicationof force.

For forming the receiving space, the two part-bodies comprise surfaceswhich point to one another, between which is arranged the filtermembrane which, in this case, is supported on both sides by thesurfaces.

The surfaces which point to one another on the two part-bodiespreferably form, in particular, a circumferential chamber which is openon one side and in which the edge region of the membrane is inserted. Asalready mentioned, during the injection moulding of the secondpart-body, the surface which is provided on its side can form an insideconnection to the membrane, which results in particularly good sealing.

Resiliently deflectable portions, which are resiliently deflected as aresult of being assembled with the filter membrane or with the otherpart-body and bring about a holding force in the direction of the filtermembrane, can be provided on one of the part-bodies.

The named resiliently deflectable portions can be deflected andconsequently tensioned by means of the inserted filter membrane duringthe production of the cap such that, once the second part-body has beenadded, they push the membrane against said second part-body andconsequently secure the position of the filter membrane in an additionalmanner.

The caps according to the two described variants are preferably producedfrom plastics material, for example from polypropylene or polyethylene.

The design of the dispenser is basically flexible. It can be a dispenserwith a pump or a switchable outlet valve, by means of which previouslypressurized liquid is able to be discharged in a targeted manner.Especially advantageous, however, is a design with a squeeze bottle as aliquid reservoir. In the case of such a design, it is preferablyadditionally provided that an outlet valve which opens in dependence onpressure is provided in the discharge head, said outlet valve onlyopening when the pressurization of the liquid, in particular in thesqueeze bottle, is sufficient and consequently allowing liquid to bedischarged.

The cap according to the invention can additionally be used withdispensers with different discharge characteristics, thus, for example,in the case of spray dispensers. Provided in particular, however, is usein the case of dropper dispensers, as such dropper dispensers have adrop-forming surface surrounding the discharge opening, on whichdrop-forming surface the discharged liquid collects in an intendedmanner before the drop is released. Precisely in the case suchdispensers, it is advantageous to enable drying off after use as aresult of a cap with a ventilation opening.

A dispenser according to the invention can be realized, in particular,as a dropper dispenser for delivering eye drops.

The term liquid dispenser within the meaning of said invention includesboth dispensers for low-viscosity liquids similar to water anddispensers for high-viscosity, more paste-like liquids.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and aspects of the invention are produced from theclaims and from the following description of preferred exemplaryembodiments of the invention which are explained below by way of theFigures.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show a first exemplary embodiment of a dispenseraccording to the invention in the delivery state.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show the cap of the dispenser according to FIGS. 1A and1B in the course of transferring the dispenser into the useful state.

FIGS. 3A and 3B show the dispenser of FIGS. 1A and 1B in the usefulstate.

FIG. 4 shows a second exemplary embodiment of a dispenser according tothe invention.

FIGS. 5A to 5C and 6A and 6B illustrate the design of the cap of thedispenser of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1A to 3B show a first exemplary embodiment of a liquid dispenseraccording to the invention.

In this case, FIGS. 1A and 1B show the liquid dispenser 10 in thedelivery state. The liquid dispenser 10 has a liquid reservoir 12, whichis realized as a squeeze bottle, and a discharge head 20 which is fittedthereon with a discharge opening 22 which is not shown in FIGS. 1A and1B and is protected by a cap body 40. Said cap body 40 is part of a cap30 which, in the delivery state, additionally includes a detachablesegment 60 which is to be detached from the cap body 40 for the purposesof the initial operation of the liquid dispenser 10. Said detachablesegment 60 includes a circumferential tamper-evident portion 64 in theform of a ring which is connected in connecting regions 64A, 64B on oneside to the cap body 40 and on the other side to a ring-shaped holdingportion 24 which is fastened on the discharge head 20. Saidtamper-evident portion 64 prevents removal of the cap body 40 from thedischarge head 20 initially in the delivery state.

Over and above this, the detachable segment 60 has a pull-off portion62, which closes a ventilation opening 42 and, to this end, is connectedintegrally to the lateral surface of the cap body 40 along acircumferential separating line 43. The plastics material of the cap 30is designed in a very thin manner in the region of said separating linesuch that a tear line is produced here.

The pull-off portion 62 and the tamper-evident portion 64 are connectedtogether by means of a connecting portion 66, in the region of which thedetachable segment 60 is not connected to the lateral surface 40A of thecap body 40. The connecting portion 66 is designed in a comparativelythick-walled manner just as a grip portion 68 such that when thedetachable segment 60 is handled in the correct manner no substantialdeformation occurs.

For the first operation of the dispenser the detachable segment 60 isgripped in the region of the grip portion 68 and tilted in the directionof the arrow 2.

With reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the effect this has first of all isthat the pull-off portion 62 releases the ventilation opening 42. Thisis promoted by a rigidly realized spacer portion 70 which brings about acomparative high lever force, by means of which the connection betweenthe pull-off portion and the lateral surface is detached in the taperedleft-hand region of the ventilation opening with reference to FIG. 2B.It is then possible to remove the pull-off portion 62 completely fromthe ventilation opening using a small amount of force. As the detachablesegment 60 continues to move, the tamper-evident portion 64 is detachedfrom the holding portion 24 and from the cap body 40 such that the capbody 40 is then removed and is able to be refitted once the dispenserhas been used. The discharge head 20 and the cap body 40 are matched toone another in such a manner that the cap holds in a non-positivelocking manner on the discharge head.

FIG. 4 shows a second exemplary embodiment of the invention, said secondexemplary embodiment differs from the first exemplary embodiment only inthe design of the cap 30. The liquid dispenser 12 and the discharge head20, in contrast, are identical to the previously described exemplaryembodiment.

As already indicated in FIG. 4, the cap 30 here consists of twopart-bodies 46, 48, between which a filter membrane 80 is arranged.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show the design in section. The part-body 46 forms thecap main body with a lateral surface 46A and an end face 46B, over whichan inside structure 46D extends, in which breakthroughs 46C are providedfor the purposes of ventilation. The filter membrane 80 is positioned,and in a preferred manner the second part-body 48, which is designed ina ring-shaped manner and has a breakthrough 48C, is fitted on said endface and the inside structure 46D. The filter membrane 80 is effectivelyfixed in position, in this case, as a result of resiliently deflectableclaw-like elements 46F. In addition, its edge is clamped in the mannershown in FIG. 6B in a circumferential receiving space 82 which is formedby the two part-bodies 46, 48. The different stages during theproduction of the cap 30 are illustrated by way of FIGS. 5A to 5C.

The ring-shaped part-body 48 can be formed in a non-positive lockingmanner by means of a press fit on the inside surface of the part-body 48and the outside surface of the part-body 46. It is also possible toprovide a snap-type connection here.

A particularly advantageous design provides that during the injectionmoulding process the part-body 46 is created first of all and, once ithas set, the filter membrane 80 is placed on the end face. The secondpart-body 48 can then be created as a result of injection moulding ontothe first part-body. As a result, on the one hand, a particularly solidconnection is created between the part-bodies as a result of asubstance-to-substance bond. On the other hand, the downwardly turnedface 48E on the second part-body 48 also establishes a particularlystrong connection here to the end regions of the filter membrane 80 suchthat bacteria passing through is not something to be feared. On theunderside of the filter membrane 80, which rests on the end face 46B andthere on the surface 46E, there is no such strong connection.

It would certainly also be conceivable, in principle, to inject the twopart-bodies 46 and 48 together instead of the above. However, this wouldbe accompanied by a very complicated mould in order to be able to holdthe filter membrane 80 in position in the meantime and inject around it.Consequently, the method according to the invention with placing themembrane on the first part-body 46 is advantageous.

1. A liquid dispenser for discharging pharmaceutical liquids comprising:a discharge head having discharge opening; and a cap with a cap body,the cap being fittable on and removable from the discharge head andwhich, in A fitted state, covers the discharge opening, the cap bodyhaving ventilation opening which connects a surrounding atmosphere to aninterior of the cap body such that once the liquid dispenser has beenused for a first time and the cap body is fitted, the discharge opening,which is covered by the cap body, is able to dry off as a result of aconnection to the surrounding atmosphere; the ventilation opening beingprovided with a filter membrane for filtering the air which flowstherethrough; and the cap body comprising two part-bodies which togetherform a receiving space for the filter membrane.
 2. The liquid dispenseraccording to claim 1, wherein: a first part-body of the two part-bodiesis a cap main body with a lateral surface and an end face with a firstbreakthrough; and a second part-body of the two part-bodies is a ringbody which is fastenable on the first part-body in a circumferentialmanner and comprises a second breakthrough which is in alignment withthe first breakthrough.
 3. The liquid dispenser according to claim 2,wherein: the first breakthrough has an internal structure which dividesthe breakthrough into several part breakthroughs and on which the filtermembrane rests.
 4. The liquid dispenser according to claim 1, wherein:the two part-bodies are connected together in a positive locking and/ornon-positive locking manner.
 5. The liquid dispenser according to claim1, wherein: the two part-bodies are connected together by way of asubstance-to-substance bond.
 6. The liquid dispenser according to claim1, wherein: the two part-bodies are connected together by way of asubstance-to-substance bond as a result of a second part-body beinginjection moulded to a first part-body.
 7. The liquid dispenseraccording to claim 1, wherein: the two part-bodies comprise surfaceswhich point to one another, between which is arranged the filtermembrane which is supported on both sides by the surfaces.
 8. The liquiddispenser according to claim 1, wherein: resiliently deflectableportions, which are resiliently deflected as a result of being assembledwith the filter membrane or with a first one of the part-bodies andbring about a holding force in a direction of the filter membrane, areprovided on a second one of the part-bodies.
 9. The liquid dispenseraccording to claim 1, wherein: the filter membrane comprises amicrofiltration membrane and has an average pore diameter of between 0.1μm to approximately 0.3 μm.
 10. The liquid dispenser according to claim1, wherein: a circumferential edge region of the filter membrane isarranged between the part-bodies of the cap body.
 11. The liquiddispenser according to claim 1, wherein: the cap is produced fromplastics material.
 12. The liquid dispenser according to claim 1,wherein: the liquid dispenser has a liquid reservoir comprising asqueeze bottle.
 13. The liquid dispenser according to claim 1, wherein:the discharge head includes an outlet valve which opens in dependence onpressure.
 14. The liquid dispenser according to claim 1, wherein: thedischarge head delivers individual drops.